Fancy Lala

A Parent's Guide to AnimeRated: G

Fancy Lala is about a 9 year old girl, Shinohara Miho, who is given two little stuffed dinosaurs/fairies that turn out to be alive. They say that they are from the world of the memories of time and they can grant her a magical power. The power that they grant her is to transform herself into a 15 year old girl, Fancy Lala. They also give her a pen and pad that she can use to draw herself new clothes for her larger alter ego.

I watched both the English dub and the subtitled version. The dub was very good.I found no objections to it. The animation quality was good.

Since Lala dresses in the larger clothing before transforming, there is no nude transformation scene. I noticed no bad language. There is not much objectional in this show. As a parent, I was concerned about a show where a child changed form into a teen. I could imagine all sorts of bad things that could happen to such a child, but the show appears to skirt these issues. It is a wish fullfillment show where by transforming Miho is allowed to do things that she could not do as a nine year old. She becomes a model and a singer. She meets her favorite TV stars. She gets a job, has a cellular phone and a bank account. She can have any clothing that she can draw.

Although this show is definitely targeted to young girls, my two boys, 4 and 6 enjoyed it very much. The characters tend to act like children. They fight in school and talk about movie stars, and what they will do when they grow up. The difference is that Miho as Lala is already doing it. It is a light hearted show where things tend to just work out for the characters. Also, it is one of the few anime where the main character has two happily married parents.

Although I have only seen the first tape, this appears to be a good anime for children. Recommended.

Parent's Guide Rating:

green (suitable for family viewing)

Although the premise seems a bit suspect to a parent, kids immediately like it. There is a man called "Mystery man" who shows up from time to time to help if anything bad seems like it will happen to Lala.